Scottish Government has ‘principled’ stance on defence company funding – Forbes

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has signalled the Scottish Government will not be changing its “principled” position on providing public money for the defence industry.

The Conservatives said the government’s failure to back a proposed Rolls-Royce welding skills centre was “student union politics”.

Rolls-Royce has been told the project in the Glasgow area cannot be supported with £2.5 million of funding from Scottish Enterprise, due to the devolved government’s policy of not funding “munitions” projects.

John Swinney has said that due to the “longstanding” policy the welding centre cannot be supported as it involves a nuclear submarine programme.

UK ministers have suggested they will step in to provide the funding instead.

On Wednesday, MSPs debated Scotland’s defence sector during the Conservatives’ parliamentary time.

Tory MSP Murdo Fraser praised defence companies in Scotland such as BAE and Babcock, which are involved in frigate-building programmes for the Royal Navy.

He said the skills centre is “just the sort of project we should be welcoming and supporting”, saying the government should feel “shame” for refusing to back it.

He said: “What we see from the SNP is the politics of the student union…

“Scotland needs a grown-up government, not one playing silly political games at the expense of real jobs and real wages.”

Ms Forbes said her government viewed the defence sector as a strategically important part of the economy, supporting more than 14,000 jobs.

This money has focused on skills and diversification into civilian technologies, the Deputy First Minister said.

“We also hold principled positions on how limited devolved public money is used”, she said.

“Our clear and longstanding policy is that scarce devolved funds should not be used to directly support the manufacture of munitions.”

The government’s amendment in the debate stated that defence is a reserved matter and “public money should focus on diversification”.

Scottish Labour’s Daniel Johnson sought to challenge the government’s position, arguing “a submarine is not a munition”.

He also noted the UK’s support for Ukraine has depleted its own munitions stockpiles.

However, Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater said companies which have profited from war crimes “should not receive public money from the Scottish Government”.